Dulcinea del Toboso was Don Quixote's woman of dreams for whom he often expressed hopeless devotion and unrequited love. He imagined her to be the most beautiful of all women and a princess! Sancho Panza, his squire, knew the woman well. In effect she was a peasant woman by the name of Aldonza Lorenzo who was tall, strong and well built. He states that "she has a crack with everybody, and makes a joke and a mock of them all". In the Broadway musical "The Man from la Mancha", she is portrayed as a member of the earliest profession with low self esteem but who redeemed herself through Don Quixote's belief in her. Everybody knows that Don Quixote's was a demented knight though well meaning! He was in effect stark raving mad. He built his world around what he delusionally perceived and felt; his mistaken conclusions were in fact very far removed from reality, also known as the truth!

I strongly believe that the new code of ethics drawn up by Cabinet for the Ministers of State has a weird but solid resemblance to this story. The code of ethics originally had an objective aim about it. It compelled Ministers to be full timers, giving up their private work temporarily so that they could concentrate on the affairs of state and avoid conflicts of interest. They also had to declare all their assets and that of their immediate family. The new code of ethics drawn up by Joseph Muscat's government is a completely subjective one. It allows the Prime Minister to give certain chosen ministers permission to continue their private professional work while being members of Cabinet. This allows accepting a conflict of interest and leaving the decision in the hands of the Prime Minister! What ministers would be allowed to do private work and who would not? What is the overall intention of this permission? Is it in the national interest or the interests of the Labour Party in government? The new code keeps the ministers' obligation to declare their assets but has now removed the obligation to declare the assets of their spouse and children. All one has to do is remove assets which may show up as pecuniary interest and register them in the spouse's or children's name and the pecuniary interest disappears! How's that for magic, or should I say the ethics for a banana republic?

A code of ethics is useless if it is allowed to be subjective. The very reason for a code of ethics is its very objectivity which is now reduced to a decision by the Prime Minister on a whim of "national interest of a partisan nature". What rot is this? At this rate the present government is going to be remembered for two things. First, the nine-seat (actually seven) majority it obtained in the last general election and secondly, the air of mediocrity in all sectors with which it is governing. If the love of money is the root of all evil, then I can also add that it is seriously courting the root of all evil in pandering to lovers of money in the circumspect land and property deals we are seeing going on around us.

There is no ethics without a metaphysics of being, and a proper metaphysics of essence has to be based on the principle of man's reality not on the principle of a hedonistic subjective emotionalism. This government has chosen the latter approach that is never consonant with the common good which should after all, in the end, be the whole reason for government. A proper ethics should be based on objective realities. Man should after all be made of sterner stuff! The stuff that formed the character of one man, such as a certain Oscar Romero, of El Salvador.

Last May, San Salvador finally saw the beatification of Oscar Romero. He was a man in love with God and had a profound objective understanding of the needs of man as a result of his essential humanity. He understood what made man tick and defended his dignity from those whose sole aim was a subjective ethical outlook with the aim of politics being grounded in power and money. He regarded the poor as all those who were forcibly detached from their essential human dignity. Oscar Romero was shot by assassins while celebrating Mass and consecrating the wine into the sacramental offering. One can say that the two bloods were mixed in a single act. The day he was assassinated, Archbishop Romero spent the morning with Fernando Sáenz at a retreat for priests organised by Opus Dei. Afterwards, the Spanish priest accompanied Romero to the church where he was to celebrate Mass. Sáenz recalls: "They killed him during the offering of the bread and wine. It was, as it were, a marvellous external sign of his having offered his life for his people, for the poor, for justice, for peace."

What many people do not know is that he had entrusted his spiritual formation to Opus Dei. His personal reflections attest to this as in his own words he states: "For many years I have been acquainted with the activity of the Work here in El Salvador and can give witness to the supernatural spirit that animates it and the faithfulness to the Magisterium that characterizes it... Personally, I owe deep gratitude to the priests involved with the Work, to whom I have entrusted with much satisfaction the spiritual direction of my own life and that of other priests... People from all social classes find in Opus Dei a secure orientation for living as children of God in the midst of their daily family and social obligations. And this is doubtless due to the life and teaching of its founder... Mgr Josemaria Escrivá's life was marked by a continuous dialogue with God and a deep humility. One could see that he was a man of God and that he dealt with people with great refinement, affection and good humour."

A Mass to commemorate his feast day will be celebrated on Friday 19 June at the Paola parish church at 7.30pm. All are invited.

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